The experimental model of orthotopic left allograft lung transplantation in rats without using cuff

Objective To establish a stable model of rat orthotopic left lung transplantation using direct suture of vessels and bronchi. Methods Ten Sprague Dawley(SD) rats weighted 250 to 350 g were used as lung donors and recipients respectively.Airway and pulmonary vessels were reconstructed microsurgically using continuous running suture technique.Survival time were recorded and donor lungs were checked by autopsy. Results All 10 rats received left lung transplantation were weaned from ventilator successfully.Both of cold ischemia time and warm ischemia time were about 40 minutes.The total procedure took about 130 minutes.Autopsy was used to check the patency of anastomotic sites.No thrombosis or air leak was found. Conclusions Direct microsurgical surture can be used to establish an experimental model of orthotopic left allograft lung transplantation in rats.This method is proved to be stable,reliable and similar to clinical practices.